Emilio Barzini, Sr.
Emilio Barzini was the head of the Barzini crime family. Biography Barzini presided as head of one of New York's Five Families, and wielded power matched only by Vito Corleone. He rose to power shortly after Don Corleone and was a physical presence in the 1940's. He had interests in markets such as narcotics, gambling and prostitution, and was also clever enough to be interested in Las Vegas and Nevada. He was also linked to Wall Street politics and the Mafia in Sicily, as well as to movie mogul Jack Woltz in Hollywood. Role in the war meeting.]] He was respected enough by Vito Corleone to be invited to the wedding of his daughter Connie. However, when his counterpart refused to participate in the heroin trade, Barzini secretly conspired with the other families to make war with the Corleones, forcing them to make peace and open up their territory to drug trafficking. His influence maintained the crippled Tattaglia family follow the death of Virgil Sollozzo in 1946, sparking off the Five Families War. To this end, he approached Carlo Rizzi with a plot to draw Santino Corleone out to the Jones Beach Causeway tollbooth where he was ambushed and killed. Don Corleone, realizing this too late, agreed to lend his political protection to the enterprise and to never be the one to break the peace. Downfall Not satisfied with the submission of the Corleones, Barzini began chipping away at their territories in New York, and approached Corleone caporegime Salvatore Tessio to organize another peace summit where Vito's heir Michael would be ambushed. However, by this time the Don and his son had long anticipated Barzini's move and, on the day of the summit, he was assassinated along with the other conspirators. Emilio Barzini was in Foley Square, Manhattan, bribing a judge. Corleone enforcer Al Neri, disguised as a police officer, killed the bodyguards and shot Emilio Barzini twice in the back, killing him instantly. He was succeeded by caporegime Paul Fortunato. Personality and traits Emilio Barzini was a man much like Don Corleone, but more modern, more sophisticated, more businesslike. He could never be called an old Moustache Pete and he had the confidence of the newer, younger, brasher leaders on their way up. He was a man of great personal force in a cold way, with none of Don Corleone's warmth. In the video game .]] In the video game, Emilio Barzini oversees the murder of Johnny Trapani for interference in his business. The resulting scandal causes Barzini to withdraw his interests in Little Italy and he gaines something of a grudge against the Corleone's. Barzini also replicates Woltz' mansion by building the Barzini Compound in Midtown, from which he rules with an iron fist. During the war, Barzini is initially confident of success, but begins to lose his grip following Sonny Corleone and Aldo Trapani's raid on the West Port Warehouse, which drews dangerously close to revealing the Barzinis role as the manipulators behind the violence. Death in the video game In the video game, Barzini is shot down by Aldo Trapani, finally avenging his father. Real life sources Emilio Barzini is believed to be based on gangsters such as Vito Genovese and Lucky Luciano, but his treacherous cunning could also be partly based on Carlo Gambino. Barzini,Emilio Category: Barzinis